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Health Canada told CBC News it will complete its review of the updated COVID vaccines “early this fall” after the U.S. approves two updated vaccines to prevent hospitalizations and deaths.
As COVID hangs like a dark cloud over the Paralympic Games in Paris, which begin on Wednesday after outbreaks among Olympic athletesnew subvariants of Omikron keep coming and going, making people sick. Doctors and public health experts want people to consider getting vaccinated as part of their fall plans.
Mandy Cohen, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters on August 22 why officials think the updated vaccines are important.
“While the COVID virus continues to mutate and change more rapidly than the flu virus, our underlying immunity from previous vaccines and previous infections provides some protection,” Cohen said. “But we know that protection wanes over time and that certain groups are still at higher risk from COVID and other viruses, and we must continue to protect ourselves and our loved ones.”
Dawn Bowdish, a professor of immunology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, said COVID activity typically peaks every three to six months, as it did this winter.
Which variants are in the upcoming vaccine?
In addition to the Omikron subvariants currently circulating in Canada and the US, KP variants, which are spin-offs of Omikron, began rapidly spreading around the world in late 2021.
Vaccine manufacturers and regulators like Health Canada are now preparing to get the latest protection into arms.
“Health Canada is reviewing submissions from Pfizer and Moderna for COVID-19 vaccines targeting the KP.2 strain,” a spokesperson said Tuesday. “We are also reviewing a submission from Novavax for a COVID-19 vaccine targeting the [earlier] JN.1 tribe.”
The regulator said it plans to “complete the review process in early fall” and that doses will arrive a few days later.
Who should wait for a new vaccine?
Dr. Iris Gorfinkel, a family physician in Toronto, said some of her patients are already asking about getting vaccinated in the fall.
“The most asked question by far is ‘should I get my COVID vaccine now?'” Gorfinkel said. “With fall right around the corner, I would encourage them to wait. Wait for that more appropriate vaccine because there’s a good chance that it will reduce hospitalizations.”
She added that the vaccinations will not perfectly match the circulating subvariants, but that they should result in fewer people ending up in hospital.
Bowdish said older adults ask her all the time about COVID vaccinations. “They feel really left out because they don’t have good information.”
According to federal officials, Canada has secured “sufficient supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to meet provincial and territorial requirements for the fall and winter 2024 vaccination campaigns.”
A fall vaccine could be an option for anyone concerned about getting maximum protection during the winter holidays, U.S. officials say.
Who should get a shot now?
People who are 65 or older, people with underlying conditions including obesity or heart or lung disease, should get another dose sooner if they were last vaccinated more than six months ago, Gorfinkel advised. That is in line with vaccination recommendations of Canada’s National Advisory Body.
“Anyone who is at high risk of being hospitalized and who is more than six months away from vaccination is likely to be better off getting vaccinated, even if their chances of getting vaccinated right now are suboptimal,” Bowdish said.
The new Level 4 lab at the University of Saskatchewan, which will house the new Canadian Centre for Pandemic Research, is being developed as the federal government works to improve biosafety measures for high-containment labs. There has also been criticism of the safety of Canada’s existing Level 4 lab in Winnipeg.
According to Ontario health officials, the current vaccines in Canada target XBB.1, an earlier subvariant of Omikron, first reported in August 2022.
Why matching is important
Unlike the influenza virus that causes flu, COVID-19 has multiple seasons, including peaks in the summer.
Health officials say not only does the virus that causes COVID-19 change, but our protection from previous infections or vaccinations also decreases over time.
Therefore, to get the best protection during the season, updated vaccines are recommended.
“The only way you get long-term COVID is to have COVID,” Dr. Peter Marks, head of vaccinations at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told reporters.
Shehzad Iqbal, chief medical officer of Moderna Canada, said the updated vaccines will have the same content in Canada and the U.S.
“Now that the new vaccine formula is available for the fall, it is like recharging your batteries and protecting yourself for the coming winter season,” Iqbal said.
